LONG POND
June 25 last year was the official announcement that Chase Briscoe would be joining Joe Gibbs Racing for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season. Unofficially, Christopher Bell had let it slip four days prior during an interview that Briscoe would be the driver of the No. 19 Toyota to replace the retiring Martin Truex Jr.
“We went through a lot, tried to research every single thing that we could,” team owner and Pro Football and NASCAR Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs said. “(All) our crew chiefs were a part of it. I think we came down to Chase was the guys. He was being pursued by other people, so we went after him hard.”
On Sunday at Pocono Raceway, Briscoe showed why.
Three-hundred-sixty-two days after his hiring, the 30-year-old driver from Indiana won his first race with JGR, taking the checkered flag in The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VISITPA.COM. Briscoe did it by impressively saving fuel over the final 40 laps while holding off teammate and seven-time Pocono winner Denny Hamlin, who appeared poised to get win No. 8.
“I thought he was going to run out,” Hamlin said.
Briscoe put himself in that position when he left his stall on his final pit stop too soon before his crew could get the fuel tank completely full. But by lifting his foot off the throttle and coasting through the three turns of the 2.5-mile triangular track each of the remaining laps, he was able to conserve enough gas to keep Hamlin behind him, make it to the finish, do a couple of celebratory burnouts and drive into Victory Lane before the tank ran dry.
“Out of anybody you could have behind you here at least, Denny is the last kind of guy you want because he’s so experienced and so skilled. He makes speed here where other guys can’t,” Briscoe said.
“Honestly, I wasn’t crazy nervous just because I was honestly going so slow. I was so backed up, but I was still driving away. Honestly, it would have been probably harder if I was on the ragged edge. The biggest thing for me was I didn’t want him to get close enough to where he could make somewhat of a move on me, especially with how much I was having to lift into the corners. I didn’t want him to be able to drive in deeper.”
Joining JGR was a dream come true for Briscoe, who drove for Stewart-Haas Racing but became available when that team team announced it was folding at the end of last season. A diehard fan of former JGR driver Tony Stewart growing up, Briscoe said he would play his sprint car video game while wearing a Joe Gibbs Home Depot uniform.
Hamlin said Briscoe has brought a different perspective to JGR.
“He’s helped with some restart stuff and just little things about the way they approached things at Stewart-Haas,” Hamlin said. “Stewart-Haas was a powerhouse for quite some time up until the last year or so. He had a good understanding of that. Certainly the feel of our cars, he’s the last one that’s run at another organization, then come over. He’s been able to analyze how our cars drive versus what he’s had. That’s been a useful resource for us, especially in Monday meetings.”
But joining the organization brought expectations that he didn’t experience at Stewart-Haas.
“At SHR, it honestly felt like you shocked the world when you won,” Briscoe said. “Here, it doesn’t feel like that because they do win a lot.”
There were the usual growing pains and learning curve when a driver joins a new team. Briscoe and crew chief James Small needed to build a relationship and get to know one another. Through the first 16 races, Briscoe won four poles — including three in a row at Charlotte, Nashville and Michigan — and had five top-five finishes.
But no wins. The pressure was beginning to mount.
“Last couple weeks especially, I’ve just been like this huge weight on my shoulders, unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before,” Briscoe said. “My wife is, ‘What is going on with you?’ I’m like, I have to win. I don’t think you realize how bad it is if we don’t win a race and lock into the playoffs.
“Literally when I was doing my contract with JGR, I remember them showing me the stat thing about how about out of 40 attempts for playoffs, they have made it 38 times. The expectation is if you don’t make the playoffs, you’re not going to be in this car anymore.”
That is no longer an issue. Sunday’s win at Pocono made Briscoe the 11th driver to punch his ticket to the playoffs over the final 10 races.
Because of the pressure and expectations, Briscoe called his third career Cup Series win his “least enjoyable.” He then tried to put it in context, saying that yes, it was very enjoyable, but a different feeling because you should win in a JGR car if you do your job.
Interesting, because Small called the win his “best” and “proudest moment.” This was the ninth victory as a crew chief for the 41-year-old native of Melbourne, Australia — eight coming with Truex — but first since 2023.
“This has been a lot of work, a lot of work by a lot of people, a lot of frustration,” Small said. “There’s also been a lot of good times and a lot of letdown. I’m just so proud of Chase. He’s done an amazing job.
“I know what myself and my team are capable of doing. I think this just showed it. We’re ready to rip now.”
Bell and Hamlin each had three wins this season and had accounted for the last 15 of JGR’s Cup Series victories. Now, Briscoe can add his name to the list and validate JGR’s decision to hire him.
“I read the Internet. People are like, Why would they put that guy in? Even when I won three poles in a row, not winning the race, people are trashing you,” Briscoe said. “I knew we were more than capable. I knew myself that I was capable. You never really know until you go do it, right? For us to be able to come here, it’s certainly nice to get that monkey off your back.
“There was a lot of people they could have put in this car. It was the most sought-after seat in the off-season. For me to be the one blessed enough, lucky enough to get it is great.”
Briscoe’s victory Sunday wasn’t the only first during an exciting NASCAR tripleheader weekend at Pocono.
On Friday night, in the Craftsman Truck Series Miller Tech Battery 200, Layne Riggs got his first win of the season and at Pocono. Then Saturday, with team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. making his debut as crew chief filling in while Mardy Lindley served a one-race suspension, 18-year-old Connor Zilisch captured the Xfinity Series Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 for his first oval track win.
Also, Sunday’s Cup Series race took place in front of a sellout crowd for the third consecutive year.
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